What is Anderson Silva's Net Worth?

Anderson "The Spider" Silva is one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time, and is certainly in the debate when it comes to the title of greatest combat fighter of all time.

It's rare when a fighter performs at the highest level for such an extended period of time, and Anderson Silva did just that from the time that he entered the UFC in the summer of 2006 until his loss to Chris Weidman at UFC 162. Anderson Silva holds the record for most consecutive UFC title defenses (10) and most consecutive UFC wins (16).

Anderson Silva, who was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil on April 14th, 1975, managed to parlay his success into a small fortune. Thanks, in large part, to his feud with Chael Sonnen, Anderson Silva was able to transform himself into one of the UFC's biggest stars and most reliable PPV draws. Thanks to this success, Anderson Silva and his management team managed to negotiate a deal with the UFC that included PPV points, which gave Silva a portion of the PPV take for each event that he participated in.

In addition, Silva's success transformed into immense popularity in Brazil, where he is still one of the country's most popular athletes. This popularity translated into several lucrative endorsement deals with the likes of Nike, Burger King and Sport Club Corinthians Paulista. These three endorsement deals, along with his lucrative UFC deal, have translated into a net worth for Anderson Silva that is likely around the $20 million mark.

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Despite his immense success, Anderson "The Spider" Silva was a fairly unpopular fighter in the UFC for a prolonged period of time. Many fans were turned off by his aloof manner and his tendency to try and embarrass his opponents in the Octagon, and this translated into Anderson Silva-headlined PPVs that resulted in fairly low buy levels.

As mentioned, it was Silva's storied battles with Chael Sonnen that helped propel him into superstardom. The trash talking Sonnen very nearly beat Silva in their first fight, but Silva was able to secure a fifth round submission to steal the victory. The two would fight again, with Silva scoring an emphatic second round victory.

The Sonnen battles sent Silva's popularity soaring in Brazil, as he was seen as defending his country's honour against the loud-mouthed American. According to various reports from marketing and advertisement firms, Anderson Silva was, at one time, the second most popular athlete in Brazil.

As mentioned, sponsors latched on to Silva's popularity, as his management team managed to secure him deals with blue chip sponsors such as Nike and Burger King.

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The UFC's biggest PPV draws usually have contracts that include PPV points, which means that they are able to earn themselves a cut of PPV revenues, assuming that the event sells a certain minimum of buys.

For instance, a fighter with a deal that includes PPV points may have a contract that looks like this:

-the fighter will receive a minimum amount "to show". This is the amount that they will receive regardless of how they do in the fight or regardless of how well the PPV does. Some of the biggest names in the UFC will receive a base salary of $300,000 - $500,000

-some fighters will receive an additional amount if they win the fight. So, for instance, a fighter may receive an additional $400,000 if he is able to win the fight

-some fighters will receive PPV points, which might be structured something like this:

So, let's say that a fighter has this deal and the PPV that they appear on does 1 million buys.

This would mean that, in addition to any base salary or winning bonuses, and in addition to any discretionary bonuses or sponsorship revenues, the fighter will also receive an additional $1.075 million for their cut of the PPV points ($200k + $375k + $500k).

This is the deal that Anderson Silva has, and his fights against Chael Sonnen, in particular, did extremely well. These fights helped Anderson Silva to become one of the richest fighters in the UFC.